IPO market kicks off busiest week of 2017 with 11 deals on tap

The initial public offering market is facing its busiest week of the year, with 11 deals on tap expected to raise more than $2 billion.

That’s according to Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, a manager of IPO exchange-traded funds.

Companies are rushing to get deals out ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, when many investors are expected to be away from their desks, said Smith.

“IPOs have been well received, and investors are making money,” she said.

The pushback last week against toy and consumer products company Funko Inc. FNKO, +6.71% is a positive, she said. Funko priced its deal at $12, below its price range of $14 to $16, and downsized to 10.42 million shares from an earlier plan to sell 11.51 million shares. The stock ended its first day of trading down 41%, marking the biggest first-day decline of the year, according to market intelligence firm, Ipreo.

“It shows that investors are not just jumping on the bandwagon,” said Smith. “They had issues with it and that’s reflected in that first day. It’s not just about the first day, but about the early days, and shows the market is still price and valuation sensitive. That’s good because it means investors when they are not in on the IPO and have to buy shares later are getting better returns, than if it just runs up in one day.”

Renaissance’s IPO ETF IPO, -1.17% has gained 35.2% in 2017, outperforming the S&P SPX, -0.10% which is up 15.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.09% which has gained 19%. The Renaissance International IPO ETF IPOS, +0.00% has gained 25.8% in 2017.

This week’s deals include three from Chinese companies, led by Tencent Holdings Ltd. 0700, +3.71% -backed Sogou SOGO, +0.00% a search engine. Sogou is planning to raise $540 million at a proposed market capitalization of $4.8 billion. The company is planning to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “SOGO.”

PPDAI, China’s biggest peer-to-peer lender, is planning to rise $298 million at a valuation of $5.7 billion, said Smith. PPDAI PPDF, +0.00% is planning to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PPDF.”

Four Seasons Education (Cayman) Inc. FSE.RC, +0.00% a Chinese tutoring company with an emphasis on math, is expected to raise up to $120 million. That company is planning to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “FSERC.”

In other deals, WorkSpace Property Trust WSPT, +0.00% a real-estate investment trust, is planning to raise $527 million at a valuation of $1 billion. The company is planning to come to market with a 4% yield and to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “WSPT.”

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. APLS, +0.00% is aiming to raise $185 million and list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “APLS.”

In the banking sector, Metropolitan Bank Holding, CBTX and Meridian Bank are all slated to IPO this week. Metropolitan a Manhattan-based bank, is aiming to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “MCB.”